Desk telephone set



June 9, 1942. H. F. BER F L 2,286,174-

' DESK TELEPHONE SET Original Filed July 9, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR HERBERT/5 OBERGFELL ATTORNEY June 9, 1942. H. F. oBERGF2,286,174

' DESK TELEPHONE SET Qriginal Filed July 9, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2INV'ENTOR HERBERTI-TOBERGFELL ATTORNEY June 9,1942. oBERGFEI-L 2,286,174

DESK TELEPHONE SET Original Filed July 9, 1 938 4 Sheets-Sheet sINVENTOR HERBERTF: OBERGFELL ATTORNEY June 9, 1942. H. F. OBERGFELL2,286,174

DESK TELEPHONE SET Original Fil ed July 9, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR HERBERT E OBERGFELL ATT Patented June 9, 1942 .IT ED STT-E'S'AT;

N T G E 1F 1 CE DESK TELEPHONE SET Original application July 9, 1938,Serial No. 218,356. Divided and this application -April 12, 1940;;Serial No. 329,261

Claims.

The invention relates in general to telephone sets but moreparticularly'to an improved desk telephone of the cradle type.

An object of the invention relates to the combination of a channelprovided in the cover of the desk telephone formed by the side walls andthe curved rear surface and a movable fingers lifting plate mountedbetween the side walls within the channel.

Another feature of the invention relates to a pivoted fingers liftingplate for use in moving the desk telephone from place to place.

This application is a division of the H. F. Obergfellapplication, SerialNo. 218,356, filed July'9, 1933, for the combination of a channelprovided in the cover of a desk telephone and a stationary fingerslifting platemounted across the channel.

Other features will be apparent from the detail description of thedrawings comprising Figs. 1 to 15, inclusive.

Fig. 1 shows a'front View of the desk-set with the calling device ordial removed.

Fig. 2 showsa rear View of the preferred embodiment of the inventionwith thepivoted'fingers lifting plate.

Fig. 3 shows a top view.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section taken on-a line approximately throughthe'center'of the desk set.

Fig. 6 shows a partial crosssection through one of the side walls.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a top'and side'view, respectively, of the pivotedfingers lifting plate.

Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, show various views of the mounting block forattaching the pivotal fingers lifting plate to the cover.

Fig. 13 shows a modification of Fig. 4 in perspective.

Fig. 14 shows a perspective of a further modification.

Fig. 15 shows a cross-section'taken approximately through the center ofFig. 14.

Referring nOW in general to the'drawings the cover ll] of the desktelephone is formedin'one pieceof some suitable plastic insulatingcompound and has a general shape roughly-corresponding to a truncatedpyramid thereby enabling ease in moulding. The loaseportion of the covercomprises ten sides or skirts ll which extend substantially vertical fora short distance at which point the front, rear, and'side tiallyvertical.

shouldered female-male screw insert 28.

skirt side-portion only a short distance at which point both the sidesurfaces extend substan- The front surface I4 slopes .upwardly andinwardly'at an angle of substantially 40 degrees until it is rounded ina substantially surfaces 19 and 20 of the side walls and the curved rear.surface I6. highest points terminates in .a pair of spaced Each sidewall at its pillars 2|. .The space between these pillars forming acradle for the well-known combination'transmitter and receiver handset.

A plunger 22 is movably mountedin the space between the two pillars ineach side wall. These plungers are provided for operating the switchhooksprings-(not shown) whenever the handset .is. removed or replaced onthe-cradle.

A base plate 23 having a rubber ring 24 is secured to the bottom of thecoverby means of screws which-screw into threaded inserts in the cover.

A hole 3| is provided in the front surface through which a callingdevice extends, such calling device being mounted on a bracket 26 whichin turn is fastened to the top horizontal portion I5 of the cover-bymeans of screws and metal inserts in projections 30. The bracket 26 issecured to the base portion 2'! by means of a The calling device 29 isfastened to the bracket 26 by means ofmachinescrews and "does not touchthe circumference of the hole 3| in the front surface M at any point.

The channel formed by the curved rear surface l6 and the insidesurfacesl9 and 20 of the two sidewalls I! and Hlstarts at the rear and graduallydeepens. Its greatest'depth being at a vertical point 'from'the two rearpillars 2| in the side walls. Due to :this depth ofthe channel thefingers can firmly grasp'the underside of a handset (not shown) restingon theplungers 22 inthe cradle'between the pillars 2i and side walls I land 18. In known desk sets'only the tip'ends of thefingers can grasp the'sides'of the handset resulting in an insecure finger grip on thehandset. This insecure finger grip often permits the handset to fallafter it has been removed from the cradle. In case the handset slips andfalls from the insecure finger tip grip considerable damage or breakagemay occur.

Another advantage provided by this channel is to minimize cordinterference. For example, a subscriber, in hurriedly replacing thehandset on the cradle, may allow the cord extending from the desk standto the handset, to loop between the plungers of the cradle. In manyinstances these loops prevent the proper depression of the plungerssince the handset rests on the cord and does not depress the plungerssufficient to properly control the substation circuit. Under theseconditions the telephone is temporarily out of service in regard toincoming calls, In the present invention this defect has been overcomeby providing a channel which starts near the front pillars and which hassufficient depth so that the cord will not interfere with the properoperation of the plungers in case the cord is accidentally looped inbetween the pillars,

Mounting blocks 32 are provided between each pair of pillars 2| in theside walls. These mounting blocks 32 form the top surface of the cradlewhich supports the handset and are provided with threaded screw holes 33into which the screws 42 are screwed. The screws 42 extend through holesin the switchhook spring mounting plate 4344 and through holes in aportion of the side walls as shown in Fig. 6 and are then screwed intothe mounting blocks 32 to hold the same and the switchhook springmounting plate 43- 34 firmly secured to the cover [0. A hole 31 isprovided in each mounting block 3?. for the plungers Due to the generalshape of the cover IEI which is provided with smooth sloping sides thedesk telephone is not easily moved by hand from place to place becauseno suitable finger grip is available for lifting the cover. In order toprovide means for easily lifting and moving the desk telephone fromplace to place a fingers lifting plate has been provided which enablesthe fingers to be inserted below this fingers lifting plate in thechannel formed by the rear surface It and the side walls I! and I8.Several modifications of fingers lifting plates are shown in thedifferent figures of the drawings. The preferred fingers lifting plate33 is shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. The lifting plate 33 has thegeneral shape shown in Figs. 7 and 8 and has two rounded lugs 39 bymeans of which the plate 33 is pivoted in the cut-out rounded openings35 in the mounting blocks 32. The lower end of plate 33 is curved asshown at 4| which allows the fingers to raise and rotate the plate 33from the full-line position to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 5.In the dotted-line position of Fig. the plate 33 strikes against theoverhanging flanges or edges 34 of mounting blocks 32, therebypreventing further rotation of the plate 33. In this raised position thefingers extend in the channel under the plate 33 and the tips of thefingers engage the cut-out portion 40, thereby giving a firm finger gripfor moving the desk stand with the hand set on the cradle. The cut-outportion 40 has been carefully chosen so that the tip of the fingers willnot push the handset off of the plungers when moving the telephone Thispivoted fingers lifting plate 33 normally rests on the rear surface I5or on the bottom of the channel as shown in full-line in Fig. 5 so asnot to interfere with the fingers when removing the handset from thecradle, The combination of the pivoted fingers lifting plate 33 and thechannel has a decided advantageover known desk sets in that it allowsthe fingers of the hand to grasp the underside of the handset, therebyproviding a firm grip on the handset. This is especially true when alifting means is provided for moving the entire telephone set, since thelifting means as a rule allows only the finger tips to grasp the sidesof the handset resulting in an insecure grip of the handset. Variousreports from the telephone companies show that breakage on the handsetsgreatly exceeds any other breakage of the desk telephones and it isthought that this new combination of the channel and pivoted fingerplate will greatly reduce the breakage of handsets because of theimproved finger grasping arrangement.

Figs. 14 and 15 show a modification comprising a movable fingers liftingrod 10. The rod is U shaped and extends through holes in the rearsurface and through a portion II of the moulded cover Hi. The portion Hbeing provided for guiding the movement of the rod H. Screws [2, asshown in Fig. 15, are screwed into the lower ends of the rod 10 to limitthe vertical movement of the rod when the same is raised for the purposeof moving the desk telephone. It should be noted that the horizontalportion of rod 10 does not rest on the rear surface l6. The curvature ofthe rod 10 from its horizontal to its vertical shape prevents thehorizontal portion of rod 10 from engaging the rear surface I 6 therebyleaving sufficient space between the rear surface l6 and the rod 10 toforce the rod 10 vertically when the fingers are inserted beneath rodH1. The dotted-line in Fig. 15 shows the position the rod H! attainswhen it is raised by the fingers for moving the desk telephone while thefull-line shows the normal position of rod 10. This type of fingerlifting rod, like the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 4, permits asecure finger grip of the handset when the same is removed from thecradle because the rod 10 in normal position does not interfere with thefinger tips grasping the underside of the handset.

Having described the invention, what is considered to be novel ispointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, and a fingers lifting plate pivotallymounted between said pillars and extending within said channel saidplate normally resting in said channel out of the way during the removaland. replacement of the hand telephone from the cradle supports toprovide a full finger grip of the hand telephone by the user and saidplate manually movable within said channel thereby providing a fingersgrip for moving the entire desk telephone.

2. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, a fingers lifting means movably mountedand. extending within said channel, and mounting blocks positionedbetween said paired pillars for limiting the movement of said fingerslifting means.

3. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side Walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, mounting blocks positioned between saidpaired pillars, and a fingers lifting plate extending within saidchannel and pivotally mounted in said mounting blocks, said platenormally resting on said rear surface in said channel out of the wayduring the removal and replacement of the hand telephone from the cradlesupports to provide a full finger grip of the hand telephone by theuser, and said plate manually movable within said channel therebyproviding a fingers grip for moving the entire desk telephone.

4. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, mounting blocks positioned between saidpaired pillars, a fingers lifting plate extending within said channeland pivotally mounted in said mounting blocks, and a flange on eachmounting block for limiting the pivotal movement of said plate.

5. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side walls merged into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, a fingers lifting means movably mounted andextending within said channel, said fingers lifting means normallyresting in said channel out of the way during the removal andreplacement of the hand telephone from the cradle supports therebypermitting a full finger grip of the undersurface of the hand telephoneduring such removal and replacement, said lifting means manually movablewithin said channel, and a cut-out provided in said lifting means forpermitting a secure finger tip grip on said lifting means while theentire desk telephone is being moved.

6. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, a movable fingers lifting means extendingwithin said channel, said lifting means normally resting on the rearsurface in said channel thereby permitting the finger tips to grasp theundersurface of the hand telephone during its removal from saidsupports.

'7. In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising sidewalls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephonecradle supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface betweensaid side Walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by saidside walls and rear surface, a movable fingers lifting means extendingwithin said channel, said lifting means normally resting on the rearsurface in said channel thereby permitting the finger tips to grasp theundersurface of the hand telephone during its removal from saidsupports, and a curved rear end on said lifting means extending upwardlyover and within said channel thereby permitting insertion of the fingertips between said lifting means and said rear surface.

8. In a desk telephone, a cover comprising side walls each having a pairof spaced pillars forming the hand telephone supports, a rear inwardlyand upwardly sloping surface between said side Walls merging into a topsurface, and a channel formed by said side walls and rear surface, and amovable fingers lifting means normally out of way of the fingers duringremoval of the hand telephone from said supports and movably positionedby the fingers for use in moving the entire desk telephone.

9. In a desk telephone, a cover comprising side walls each having a pairof spaced pillars forming the hand telephone supports, a rear inwardlyand gradually upwardly sloping surface between said side walls merginginto a top surface, and a channel formed by said side walls and saidrear surface, and a U-shaped rod movably mounted in said channel therebyproviding a finger lifting grip for moving the desk telephone.

10. In a desk telephone, a cover comprising side walls each having apair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephone supports, a rearinwardly and gradually upwardly sloping surface between said side wallsmerging into a top surface, and a channel formed by said side walls andsaid rear surface, a U-shaped rod movably mounted in said channelthereby providing a finger lifting grip for moving the desk telephone,and means inside said cover for limiting the movement of said U-shapedrod.

HERBERT F. OBERGFELL.

